Effective January 22, 2002, the Commission will be implementing further enhancements to the EDGAR system as part of its EDGAR Modernization project. While most of the system changes upgrade Commission staff functionalities, two aspects of the enhancements may be of interest to filers and public users.

Filing Fees

The new release will enhance the system's filing acceptance protocols for verifying that transactional filings are preceded by or accompanied by the required filing fee. This enhancement will affect tender offer, merger proxy, going-private, and other filings with fees specified under Rule 0-11 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result, the EDGAR system will be able to process these filings in the same manner that it handles registration statements filed under the Securities Act of 1933.

Filers are reminded once again that Rule 0-11 requires the payment of applicable filing fees at the time of filing. If any Exchange Act filings are submitted to the Commission either electronically or in paper without the full statutory filing fee, they will no longer be accepted. Electronic filings will be suspended and paper filings will be rejected. Filers are urged to make sure that the required fees are submitted timely, particularly in connection with time-sensitive filings.

The system upgrade will not affect the processing of Securities Act filings, which will continue to be suspended if not accompanied by the statutory fee. An exception will continue to be made for registration statements under Securities Act Rule 462(b). The Commission will continue to accept these filings in accordance with the provisions of Rule 111(b) in order to accommodate the ability to submit these filings after the conclusion of the Commission's official hours of business

Public Information About Paper Filings

The January software release will also enhance the information available to public investors by providing the Commission the capability to include in the EDGAR data stream notice that a paper filing has been made with the Commission. This will include all filings with the Divisions of Corporation Finance and Investment Management except for merger proxy statements filed in paper because confidential treatment is sought pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 14a-6(e)(2). Once entered into the EDGAR system, the system will display this notice as part of the EDGAR data on the SEC web site at , and will also disseminate this information to all EDGAR data dissemination subscribers. The public may continue to visit or contact the Public Reference Room to obtain a copy of the complete document that was filed.